Preps Plus.

6 Weeks After Rout, Aledo Gains Payback

November 28, 1998|By Chip Scoggins. Special to the Tribune.

NORMAL, Ill. — Nobody gave Aledo a chance.

Not the media, which predicted No. 1 seed Taylor Ridge Rockridge would laugh its way to the Class 2A state football title. Not the Rockets, who had hammered Aledo 49-0 six weeks earlier in a game that got so out of hand that a running clock was required the entire second half.

But Aledo pulled off one of the most remarkable upsets in Illinois state title-game history with a 25-16 victory at Hancock Stadium.

"I'm shocked that we're state champions," first-year coach Welter, 29, said. "Not very many people gave us a chance to go to the playoffs, much less the state championship game. Yeah, I'm shocked that we're here."

So were the Rockridge players and coaches, who all but planned the victory celebration when they learned they would play their Olympic Conference rival for the title.

As hard as the Rockets (13-1) tried not to overlook Aledo (12-2), the players admitted the images of their 49-0 romp were too vivid to dismiss.

"It stuck with us," quarterback Dustin Kiddoo said, fighting back tears. "The coaches told us not to look past them, that they would be out for us. But in the back of our heads, we thought it would be more of a walk-through."

The Green Dragons sensed a difference at the outset.

"I knew it was going to be different when we stopped them on the first drive," said Aledo's Richard Bigham, a star in the game.

The outcome wasn't decided until Bigham returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown for the final points with 6 minutes 21 seconds left. The return--the longest for a touchdown in Class 2A title-game history--came off a fake reverse.

"When we lost to them earlier, I didn't know what happened," said Bigham, who also had two TD receptions. "I was in a daze."

That loss signaled a turnaround in Aledo's season.

"That game changed our season incredibly, because at that point we didn't know what kind of team we were," Welter said. "When they took it to us, we knew if we were going to do anything in the playoffs we had to step it up. Maybe we thought we were better than we really were."